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Zx
Classification Zx (pronounced /zæ/) is an auxiliary language designed for the purposes of the global queer community, but open to all. The proper name 'Zx' can mean "free" or "freedom" when written as a common noun or adjective in the language, i.e. 'zx'. Phonology Consonants Vowels Phonotactics Zx allows the following syllable structures: V, CV, VC, CCV, VCC, CCVC, CVCC and CCVCC. For V syllables, there are four permissible diphthongs: /ai/, /ao/, /ɔi/ and /eu/. For consonant clusters in the onset, all consonants can combine with either approximant, making these blends permissible: /my/, /ny/, /py/, /by/, /ty/, /dy/, /ky/, /gy/, /fy/, /vy/, /sy/, /zy/, /ʃy/, /ʒy/, and /yw/ as well as /mw/, /nw/, /pw/, /bw/, /tw/, /dw/, /kw/, /gw/, /fw/, /vw/, /sw/, /zw/, /ʃw/, /ʒw/ and /wy/. No approximants are allowed in the consonant clusters of the coda. The obstruent clusters in both the onset and coda follow the sonority sequencing principle and must match for voicing. For the onset, the following obstruent clusters are permissible: /pf/, /ps/, /pʃ/, /bv/, /bz/, /bʒ/, /tf/, /ts/, /t͡ʃ/, /dv/, /dz/, /d͡ʒ/, /kf/, /ks/, /kʃ/, /gv/, /gz/, and /gʒ/. For the coda, the following obstruent clusters are permissible: /fp/, /sp/, /ʃp/, /vb/, /zb/, /ʒb/, /ft/, /st/, /ʃt/, /vd/, /zd/, /ʒd/, /fk/, /sk/, /ʃk/, /vg/, /zg/, and /ʒg/, as well as /t͡ʃ/ and /d͡ʒ/, which being affricates have unique characteristics that allow the discrepancy. For onsets, the following nasal cluster is permissible: /mn/ For codas, the following nasal-obstruent clusters are permissible: /mp/, /nd/, /mk/. Note that in these clusters, the nasals and obstruents must feature the same place of articulation. Also, the labial and velar nasals take a voiceless obstruent in the coda and are the only two instances in which voicing does not match in any of the seventy permissible clusters. Writing System Grammar Zx features an SVO word order and is a subject-dropping language. It does not feature grammatical gender or case. Color Zx features color, which is phono-semantic, but relates to the grammar. At its essence, each consonant in Zx is aligned with a color of the rainbow. All twenty-six letters of the Zx alphabet create a pangram which demonstrates this. PIBFHVTQDNXMSAZLCJKUGYEWRO This pangram literally reads: REDORANGEYELLOWGREENBLUEINDIGOVIOLETWHITEBLACKCOLOR pib - /pib/ - red fhv - /fɪv/ - orange tqd - /tɛd/ - yellow nxm - /næm/ - green saz - /sɑz/ - blue lcj - /ʃɔʒ/ - indigo kug - /kug/ - violet ye - /ye/ - white wr - /wʌ/ - black o - /o/ - color The consonants /p/ and /b/ are red consonants as they are in the word meaning red. Similarly, /f/ and /v/ are orange consonants, /l/ and /j/ indigo, /y/ white, /w/ black, and so on. Physical objects in the world that typically occur as a particular color will then begin with a corresponding color letter. For example: bhvb - /bɪvb/ - apple fwosp - /fwosp/ - tiger dzof - /dzof/ - cheese nai - /nai/ - tree zask - /zɑsk/ - sky livg - /ʃivg/ - bruise gc - /gɔ/ - grape yh - /yɪ/ - tooth wi - /wi/ - night Many words will have a more arbitrary connection to color, but for adjectives and words denoting certain qualities, color will overlap with these general symbolic categories: Red - Beauty / Danger : Pe / Pc Orange - Energy / Oddity : Vyi / Vx Yellow - Kindness / Weakness : Du / Ta Green - Life / Disgust : Myci / Mnq Blue - Peace / Boredom : Si / Zwx Indigo - Transcendence / Pain : Lc / Jao Violet - Pleasure / Indulgence : Kya / Gju White - Purity / Emptiness : Yao / Yai Black - Wealth / Depression : Wyx / Wci Standard Verbs Standard verbs in Zx are generally of the CVC structure The phono-semantic value of color is relevant for verbs. Verbs can be either warm or cool and will generally come in pairs. Warm verbs end in /f/ or /v/ and cool verbs end in /ʃ/ or /ʒ/. Two verbs that differ in only their warmth or coolness differ in the heat or intensity of their meanings. nol - /noʃ/ - to have nof - /nof/ - to own yej - /yeʒ/ - to dance yev - /yev/ - to shake With these pairs, "to own" has a more intense meaning than its cool partner verb "to have", just as "to shake" does over "to dance". Tense Standard verbs conjugate according to the tense via lenition and fortition. There are three tenses: present, past, and future. To form the past tense, the coda moves further back in the mouth for both the warm and cool verbs. Similarly, to form the future tense, the coda moves further in front of the mouth for both types. nol - /noʃ/ - have nok - /nok/ - had nos - /nos/ - will have yej - /yeʒ/ - am/is/are dancing yeg - /yeg/ - danced yez - /yez/ - will dance nof - /nof/ - own not - /not/ - owned nop - /nop/ - will own yev - /yev/ - am/is/are shaking yed - /yed/ - shook yeb - /yeb/ - will shake. E nok bhvb. - "You had an apple." A yej. - "She is dancing." Am nop tem. - "They will own a home." The Stative, Descriptive, and Impersonal Verbs Three verbs in Zx are non-standard and they include the stative, descriptive and impersonal verbs. These verbs conjugate differently from standard verbs. The stative and descriptive verbs are both equivalent to English "is", but one is a copula used to connect with noun phrases (the stative verb) and the other is a non-copula used to connect with all other types of phrases (the descriptive verb). Stative Verb wa - /wɑ/ - am/is/are wc - /wɔ/ - was/were we - /we/ - will be I wa tulc. - I am a teacher. E wc wivc. - You were a singer. A we mufc. - He/She will be a traveler. Descriptive Verb ya - /yɑ/ - am/is/are yc - /yɔ/ - was/were ye - /ye/ - will be I ya vi. - "I am happy." E yc bo. - "You were hot." A ye alt. - "He/She will be here." Impersonal Verb The impersonal verb is equivalent to "There is..." in English and tells what exists. It has three verb forms, including the indicative, interrogative, and negative, and they all conjugate. Indicative tya - /tyɑ/ - there is tyc - /tyɔ/ - there was tye - /tye/ - there will be Tya nai. - "There is a tree." Interrogative sya - /syɑ/ - is there? syc - /syɔ/ - was there? sye - /sye/ - will there be? Syc bhvb? - "Was there an apple?" Negative mya - /myɑ/ - there isn't myc - /myɔ/ - there wasn't mye - /mye/ - there won't be Mye dzof. - "There won't be cheese." Negative Adverb The negative adverb 'be' means 'not'. With the stative and descriptive verb, it can contract to form one single word. I be nol fwosp. - "I don't have a tiger." I be ya va. - "I am not warm." I bya va. - "I'm not warm." Aspect Zx features three aspects: indicative, habitual, and perfect. The habitual aspect will be formed by using the stative verb in combination with a verb, whereas the perfect aspect will be formed using the descriptive verb in combination. I wa yej. - "I (regularly) dance." I wc yej. - "I used to dance." I we yej - "I will (regularly) dance." I ya yeg. - "I have danced." I yc yeg. - "I had danced." I ye yeg - "I will have danced." Mood In addition to the indicative, Zx conjugates standard verbs according to six moods: the imperative, suggestive, possible, conditional, potential, and permissive. pql - /pɛʃ/ - eat I pql. - "I am eating." (indicative) I pqlu. - "I must eat." (imperative) I pqleu. - "I should eat." (suggestive) I pqlai. - "I might eat." (possible) I pqlci. - "I would eat." (conditional) I pqlo. - "I can able to eat." (potential) I pqlao - "I can allowed to eat." (permissive) The passive mood is made by using the paricle 'sc' before the standard verb. Bhvb sc pql. - "The apple is eaten." Bhvb sc pqk. - "The apple was eaten." Bhvb sc pqs. - "The apple will be eaten." Nouns Nouns in Zx can feature any of the permissible syllable structures. They can be formed from verbs and adjectives through suffixes. Many nouns also share the same form with semantically matching adjectives. Nouns have a general form and plural form. The plural form is not required and thus the general form can be used to refer to plural items. The plural is formed by adding /m/ to nouns ending in a vowel, or /ʌm/ to nouns ending in a consonant. nai - /nɑi/ - tree naim - /nɑim/ - trees bhvb - /bɪvb/ - apple bhvbrm - /bɪvbʌm/ - apples I tij naim. - "I like trees." Tij e bhvbrm? - "Do you like apples?" Adjectives Adjectives in Zx almost always end in a vowel. Basic adjectives will generally feature a CV syllable structure. Many adjectives in Zx share the same form with semantically matching nouns. The stative and descriptive verbs are important in forming the correct grammar and meaning. zx - /zæ/ - free / freedom vi - /vi/ - happy / happiness pu - /pu/ - big / size ko - /ko/ - old / age Im ya zx. - "We are free." Im nol zx. - "We have freedom." I ya on ko. - "I am very old." Nx wa ek ko? - "What is your age?" Adverbs Adverbs in Zx are typically made by adjoining the suffic /n/ to adjectives. zxn - /zæn/ - freely vin - /vin/ - happily I wa yej zxn dji vin. - "I dance freely and happily." Conjunctions Because many nouns and adjectives share the same lexical form, it is imperative that Zx have two variations of conjunctions. Zx has two words for "and" and two words for "or". One of each connects noun phrases whereas the other of each connects all other phrase types. ai - /ɑi/ - "and" (noun phrases) dji - /d͡ʒi/ - "and" (non-noun phrases) ao - /ɑo/ - "or" (noun phrases) tle - /t͡ʃe/ - "or" (non-noun phrases) Wa bhvb ai dzof. - "It's an apple and cheese." Ya pu dji ko. - "He/She's big and old." Wa bhvb ao dzof. - "It's an apple or cheese." Ya pu tle ko. - "He/She's big or old." Syntax Zx has an SVO word order and features WH-movement and subject-verb inversion for all standard questions. Nol e bhvb? - "Do you have an apple?" Ne yeg e? - "When did you dance?" Lexicon There are currently over 1,000 words in Zx with a plan to create over 5,000. Example text Tyc zond nan mog qp zao wcki qp wcs. A be nok nxlt mo byc se. Ak bjxf txg ak tem dji dig a mrj klcvai an a. Zond yc ko dji nwe ya mrg. Yc pwe bje. A dht ba dji be muk. Jog tem an ak pu tlosp ai je ywazg. Wc feu zo mo tig ak myci. A sai wc zx. /tyɔ zond nɑn mog ɛp zɑo wɔki ɛp wɔs. ɑ be nok næʃt mo byɔ se. ɑk bʒæf tæg ɑk tem d͡ʒi dig ɑ mʌʒ kʃɔvɑi ɑn ɑ. zond yɔ ko d͡ʒi nwe yɑ mʌg. yɔ pwe bʒe. ɑ dɪt bɑ d͡ʒi be muk. ʒog tem ɑn ɑk pu t͡ʃosp ɑi ʒe ywɑzg. wɔ feu mo tig ɑk myɔi. ɑ sɑi wɔ zæ./ "There was a man who lived on a quiet street in the city. He didn't have anything, but he wasn't sad. His friend came to his home and asked him to play soccer with him. The man was old and had never played. He was somewhat scared. He said no and didn't go. He stayed home with his big cat and small dog. He was cowardly, but he liked his life. For him, it was freedom."